Supporting faculty to research, write about and present on their teaching work

Gavin Sanderson, PhDDeputy Director

Learning and Teaching UnitUniversity of South Australia

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

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http://stlhe2011.wikispaces.com

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Context setting I

1/ UniSA2/ Graduate Certificate

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Formed in 1990 from institutes and teacher’s colleges but with roots going back to the 1870s

33,000 students of which 10,000 are international students (6,000 located overseas)

Equity mission enshrined in legislation

Strong link with ‘the applied professions’, e.g. business, health sciences, engineering, teaching, social work,

journalism

Student satisfaction ratings generally at the middle-to-lower end of the scale comparatively speaking

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

City East Campus, Adelaide city centre

City West Campus, Adelaide city centre

Magill Campus, 8km east of Adelaide city centre

Mawson Lakes Campus, 12km north of Adelaide city centre

Whyalla Campus, 384km north-west of Adelaide

Mt Gambier Campus, 437km south-east of Adelaide

Context setting II

UniSA and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

• SoTL position• Rewards for academic papers• Grants and Awards (inc dedicated faculty)• Occasional Papers on Learning and Teaching• Community of practice initiatives

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Context setting III

Graduate Certificate &EDUC 5124 Negotiated Project in University

Teaching

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

▪ Introduced as Graduate Certificate in Education (University Teaching) in sem II 2007. Program awarded by School of Education but largely taught and administered by Learning and Teaching Unit (a centralised unit).

▪ Mandated from 1 Jan 2007 for all new faculty, Levels A (tutor) to C (senior lecturer) who join the University on a continuing position or contract greater than 3 years.

▪ Tuition fees (approx $2,200) paid by divisions (faculties / colleges) or schools (discipline areas within divisions).

▪ Approx 50 faculty involved. (either currently enrolled or graduated). Half mandated, half not mandated but sponsored by schools upon request. One faculty member paid their own tuition fees

▪ Change to Graduate Certificate in Education (Academic Practice) in late 2010.

▪ For information, see http://www.unisa.edu.au/academicdevelopment/what/gce.asp

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

The anonymous, online survey

Distributed to 30 faculty members on 10 May 2011 who successfully completed EDUC 5124 Negotiated Project in

University Teaching between 2008-2010

21 responses returned (approx 66%)

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q1: Approximately how many years (full-time equivalent) have you been teaching in higher education?

Option 1: Less than 1 year

Option 2: 1-2 years

Option 3: 3-5 years

Option 4: 6-9 years

Option 5: 10 years or more

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q2: What is your highest completed tertiary qualification?

Option 1: Bachelor degree

Option 2: Master degree

Option 3: Professional doctorate (e.g. Doctor of Education, Doctor of Business)

Option 4: Doctor of Philosophy

Option 5: Other

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q3: An objective of EDUC 5124 is to facilitate the development of a theoretical or data driven topic of your own interest in learning and teaching in higher education. Was the Project Report you completed for EDUC 5124 your first experience in researching learning and teaching with a view to developing your work into a conference paper or journal publication in the area of learning and teaching?

Option 1: Yes

Option 2: No

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q4: Did you end up taking your completed (or further developed) EDUC 5124 Project Report to an external audience after the course finished?

Option 1: Yes

Option 2: Not yet, but I plan to

Option 3: No and I currently have no plan to

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q5: If 'yes' to the previous question, please indicate the format of the developed EDUC 5124 paper. (You can choose more than one.) Option 1: Internal report or paper (non-refereed)

Option 2: Conference (non-refereed paper)

Option 3: Conference (refereed paper)

Option 4: Journal article (refereed paper)

Option 5: Other

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q6: Are you actively supported by your line manager(s) in your School to research your teaching / teaching-related topics?

Option 1: Yes

Option 2: No

Option 3: Unsure

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q7: What are the greatest barriers for you to research your teaching / teaching-related topics in your current position? (You can choose more than one)

Option 1: Little time due to competing demands

Option 2: Inexperienced in researching learning and teaching

Option 3: Inexperienced researcher in general

Option 4: Lack of confidence as a researcher in learning and teaching

Option 5: Actively discouraged in your School to research teaching / teaching-related topics

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q8: Of all of the barriers you listed in the previous question, which one is the most significant for you?

Time constraints (15 references) due to competing demands

Actively discouraged (2 references)

Low confidence to research T&L (1 reference)

“The lack of time is the main constraint. I have to juggle between completing the course, PhD study and teaching part-time. This is why I have decided to focus on linking the topic of my PhD research to the learning and teaching-related issues. Hence, this is how i manage to complete the final assignment of the course.”

“Limited time due to competing demands. more specifically, teaching and learning is not my core research area. I want and need to focus my research on my core area of interest and expertise - it is enough of a battle to get to that as it is.”

“The current focus on ERA [Excellence in Research Australia] where we need to publish within our FoR [Field of Research] code (i.e. Business and management 1503). Education is outside our field and highly discouraged.”

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q9: What would be some enablers for you to research your teaching / teaching-related topics in your current position? (You can choose more than one) Option 1: Recognition of workload to include research time for researching and publishing in learning and teaching

Option 2: Opportunity to work with an experienced research mentor in learning and teaching

Option 3: Being part of a team to research learning and teaching

Option 4: More experience in researching learning and teaching

Option 5: Assistance from academic librarians to find relevant literature on learning and teaching

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q10: Of all the enablers you listed in the previous question, which one is the most important for you?

Recognition of workload (9 references)

Being part of a team (6 references)

Work with mentor (5 references)

“Recognition of workload and the value of researching and publishing in learning and teaching.”

“Opportunity to work with a mentor as I doubt recognition of workload will EVER occur.”

“Really probably none of these enablers would lead me to do research in this area to any great extent because it is not my main research area. To be honest, I resist getting involved in research out of my core area as I have found it increasingly important to be focused about research in order to attract funding and to be able to publish in good quality forums.”

STLHE 2011, SaskatoonQ11: Briefly, what does the ‘scholarship of teaching and learning’ mean to you?

Researching teaching (7 references)Dissemination (6 references)Research-informed teaching (5 references)Research literature (4 references)Evidence-based practice (3 references)Reflection / Critical self-reflection on teaching practice (3 references)Researching student learning (3 references)Theorising teaching and learning (1 reference)Improves student learning outcomes (1 reference)

“Means maintaining my own inspiration to learn and inspiring others around me (students) to do the same.”

“Being prepared to implement and research new T&L methods and then to disseminate to others those which are most effective.”

“The SoTL should motivate me to remain humble and motivated to further advance my thinking and understanding of connecting the minds and hearts of my learners.”

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q12: Do you see a strong link between EDUC 5124 and the notion of the ‘scholarship of teaching and learning’?

Option 1: Yes

Option 2: No

Option 3: Unsure

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon

Q13: Please identify the main benefit(s) you got out of undertaking EDUC 5124.

Confidence to research and disseminate (5 responses)Topic of own interest (5 responses)Influences practice (3 responses)How research informs teaching (2 responses)Enabled focus on T&L (1 response)Exposure to research methodologies (1 response)Has led to changes in course (1 response)Influences writing style in my doctorate (1 response)Interdisciplinary opportunities (1 response)Led to 'best paper' at conference (1 response)Publication opportunity (1 response)Raised profile of T&L research (1 response)Reflection on own teaching (1 response)Research opportunity (1 response)Researching and analysing relevant literature (1 response)Stimulated interest in researching T&L (1 response)Strong understanding of TR nexus (1 response)

“The development of my first research paper was an excellent skills development exercise, which has since led to authorship/co-authorship of four other papers.”

Where to from here?

STLHE 2011, Saskatoon